Remco Evenepoel will play no further part in Giro d'Italia 2021, with the rider and his team deciding he should stop following his crash today during stage 17.
The 21-year-old Belgian, who was touted as a potential winner of the race, suffered no broken bones today in his crash on the descent of the Passo San Valentino with about 25km to go.
He could not avoid riders who crashed in front of him and went left, hitting a guard railing and being bounced onto the top of it. While he was treated on the roadside by medics for several minutes, he got back on his bike. He eventually finished in a large group over 36 minutes down on stage winner Dan Martin (Israel Start-Up Nation).
While medical examinations have discovered no fractures, Evenepoel will now undergo CT scans back in Belgium. His comeback race from his crash in Il Lombardia last August has now ended due to another crash.
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His Deceuninck-Quickstep team said in a statement he had suffered cuts, bruises and swelling. He was in pain due to those injuries on his hands, arms, around his knee and the base of his spine. And so the team has said he will not start tomorrow.
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"He was able to finish the stage and was then examined by the team’s doctor. This examination has revealed there were no fractures," Deceuninck-Quickstep said.
"But he has suffered multiple skin lacerations and contusions of the second metacarpal of his left hand, caput radials, sacroiliacal joint, patella and of the 8th rib, as well as bilateral bursitis olecrani.
"Following the diagnosis, the medical team decided that it would be best if Remco was to leave the race and recover completely as fast as possible, before working towards his goals for later in the season."
Evenepoel said he was sad to be leaving his first Grand Tour early. But considering his injuries he felt there was not much point in continuing.
He had also said after Monday’s challenging stage he wasn’t ready for such high level racing day after day, especially in such bad weather. And he conceded he needed more time to get used to racing again, following his crash last August, rather than starting back with a Grand Tour.
“Of course it’s sad to leave the race, and my first Grand Tour too early, but in the end, it was a nice experience and I hope to be back one day again," he said. "I’m wishing the best to all my Deceuninck-QuickStep teammates for the remaining stages.”
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